New contract raises county garbage rates

County garbage customers will see a 14 percent increase in their monthly collection service.

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | County garbage customers will see a 14 percent increase in their monthly collection service.

The County Commission on Wednesday approved a new three-year contract with Waste Management Inc. that will cost residents an annual increase of $16.80. That amounts to $1.40 per month per customer, said Jim Patrie, director of solid waste for Tuscaloosa County.The new contract takes effect in July, pushing the basic monthly fee — now $10.20 — to $11.60.Patrie said the county and Waste Management negotiated the increase, which Waste Management linked to rising fuel costs. The increase will be reflected in quarterly bills as an extra $4.20.'Fuel has gone up,' Patrie said. 'When your contractor is asking for some help to pick the garbage up, you've kind of got to take a look.'The last increase for county garbage came in 1999. The county began household garbage collection in 1994 with approximately 18,000 customers. Today there are about 24,500 customers.Rising fuel prices and health-care costs are creating other financial issues for the county.County Personnel Director Melvin Vines told the commission that the average weekly spending on health and dental services for county employees is up 25 percent over the average spent in fiscal 2007.From Jan. 1 through May 30, the average weekly expenses for county health care was $113,248, according to Vines' calculations. The weekly average last year was $90,541.That's a increase of almost $23,000 a week for the county, which self-insures its employees.'It is troubling,' Vines said. 'We are feeling the effects of inflation in some areas rather dramatic.' Vines said the county budgeted about $57,000 a week to supply the county's health-care fund but that the average expenses per week are almost double that amount.Vines said the shortfall is being covered by a $3.4 million contingency fund built in to the county's health-care fund. Also, Finance Director Bill Lamb was instructed by the commission to compile an up-to-date total of fuel costs for the county's various departments.Lamb told the commission that his most recent calculation was made March 30. At that time, the county was on pace to exceed its budgeted fuel cost estimates by about 50 percent.Since then, the average price of regular gasoline in Tuscaloosa has risen from about $3.22 cents a gallon to about $3.93. Diesel fuel has increased from about $3.83 in March to $4.69.Lamb said the county uses more than 500,000 gallons of fuel each year.